Loretta Mester, Chairman of Federal Reserve in Cleveland, said:
- A further gradual rates hike will be needed.
- Better to begin trim balance sheet in near term.
- I expect GDP to grow by 2% next year.
- I expect inflation to return to the target of 2% over the next year or so.
- Inflation is expected to remain below 2% for a little longer.
- Wage growth will only be strong if productivity improves.
- Poor inflation is a problem if it wakened expectations.
- I expect unemployment to remain below 4.75%.
- The slower growth in wages is due to slower productivity growth than recession in the labor market.
- The hurricane is likely to weaken growth in the current quarter but the economy will complete its growth in the coming quarters.
